Did Nissan/Infiniti's old "HICAS" four-wheel steering actually work?

Factual Questions
1

I noticed that Nissan put a four-wheel steering system on some of its top models in about 1993-94, then stopped.

Did anyone here actually drive one of those? I think they were on some touring models of the Q45 & J30 (U.S. model numbers). I also heard they had ‘super-hicas’.

Did Hicas work? What did it feel like? Why did they discontinue it? Was super-hicas even better?

2

never drove one and you will see very few of them on the road today.

Mechanic friend of mine commented that they had huge problems keeping all 4 wheels aligned accurately enough, as the rear wheels angle was also speed compensated ( a slow back up into a parking space required one set of instructions to all the wheels, while a high speed lane change required a completeltly different set of instructions), all were dependant on perfectly aligned wheels)
FML

3

I have heard, anecdotally, that HICAS makes the handling of the car “spooky”. It was very expensive to fix if it broke. I do know for a fact that there are several companies that make “HICAS eliminator” kits for the Nissan 300ZX. Here is a quote from Stillen’s website about their eliminator kit:

“The 4 wheel steering feature of the 300ZX Twin Turbo can be troublesome. Experienced drivers will notice a vague feel from the HICAS assembly as they pitch the car into a hard corner. The factory unit is subject to wear and replacement is quite expensive. At 4 pounds, our HICAS Eliminator saves 8 pounds over the factory setup, and eliminates the 4 wheel steering.”

4

The HICAS system was not discontinued, many current Infiniti models still use it*. HICAS used hydraulic actuators, Super HICAS used electric actuators and some fancier computer controls.

HICAS and other Japanese 4 wheel steering systems (Honda used a similar system in the Prelude, and Mitsubishi in their VR-4 range) came about during a time when the Japanese car makers were trying to one-up each other with technology in their cars. Eventually most companies concluded that the marginal improvements in handling were not worth the extra complexity and maintainance costs, although Nissan still uses it in the Infiniti line of premium vehicles, I don’t believe any lower-end Nissan models use it today.
*EDIT: I guess by "many, I actually mean the M series of midsize sedans and the FX crossover SUV. Meh, I thought they used it on more models…